The Festival
by Eqgz
Summary: A meeting of old and new friends at a rather unique place deep in the Digital Dimension. Set in the same universe as A Serpent in the Garden. One-shot.


The Festival  
by Eqgz

The great city rose above the surrounding land on a massive outcrop of dark basalt. Stone buildings crowded and clung together in such a haphazard manner that it was easy to imagine that they had grown out of the rock below them- which, in fact, they _had_. The city might have given a gloomy, brooding appearance if not for the thousands and thousands of bright, colorful flags, streamers and banners that hung from nearly every available spot. That, and the tall, elegant spires that topped most buildings of any size which were lavishly covered in gold filigree that made them sparkle even by moonlight.

Lisa threaded her way through the crowds along the Golden Mile, the wide avenue that wound its way to the citadel at the very top of the city. It was normally a busy street but now, at festival time, it was a packed mass of digimon all trying to go in different directions at once. She didn't have much trouble passing through the crowds; a human was a rare sight in that part of the Digital Dimension- even rarer was a human that exuded such an air of quiet confidence. And it didn't hurt that a Champion Nightmare Soldier trotted at her heels like a puppy- a huge, terrifying, _deadly_ puppy.

Lisa checked the little map she held in one hand and turned off the main street and onto a smaller but still crowded avenue. Ahead of her she caught a glimpse of yellow fur and she quickened her pace until she got near enough to clearly see the digimon she'd noticed. A Renamon, as she had thought, but not the one she was looking for. This one strolled along, arm-in-arm with another bipedal canine type that Lisa didn't recognize. She followed them, observing the new type with a critical eye. He was tall and well-muscled but not bulky and moved with a smooth, graceful stride. They continued walking until the road ran over a bridge across the river that circled three quarters of the city. The digimon pair paused to look at the decorated boats and barges that were moored along the banks and Lisa was able to get close enough to upholster her digivice and discreetly point it at the Renamon's partner.

The info disc didn't reveal anything special at first. He was just a Rookie. _An unusually strong one,_ Lisa thought as she scanned the readout, _but to attract a Renamon, he'd _have_ to be. _Then she read the last line on the screen: **Unknown additional attributes and abilities.** Never a good sign. She saved the scan to her digivice's memory and flagged the digimon as a potential hazard.

Cataloging new types was always of interest to Lisa but it wasn't the reason she'd come to the city. The Harvest Festival was famous all across the vast continent and beyond. It had begun as a simple celebration at the time of the year when the trailmon full of harvested food began arriving in the great trading city. Farmers and merchants from all over came to trade and they were a ready-made audience for musicians and entertainers. It had started small but had grown quickly. Soon people were coming to the city just for the celebration. As the crowds grew, so did the events until every possible space in the city that could be used to put on a play or perform music or display artwork or hold a book fair or anything in the way of entertainment- every scrap of space was filled with _something_ interesting or amusing.

But even the huge, month-long party wasn't the primary reason for Lisa's presence. It was the fact that it attracted visitors from _very_ distant places- and one of those visitors might be Greg. Lisa knew that if he heard about the festival, he'd be intrigued enough to make a visit. She thought it would be easier than searching towns and villages one-by-one, hoping for information or even rumors.

Finding him by chance in the packed city was still a long-shot but Lisa knew that Greg would be just as remarkable as she was among the almost exclusively digimon inhabitants. The news would get around. And then there was the novelty of some particular forms of entertainment, such as the one she had been heading for when she spotted the Renamon. Lisa looked up at one of the golden trimmed spires that bore a large clock face. Still plenty of time to get to the show. She leaned over the edge of the bridge and looked to the far shore. There it was; the small circle of brightly painted gypsy-style wagons on the broad, grassy bank. According to the map, she'd have to go a block beyond the end of the bridge and turn onto a small lane that curved back down to the riverside.

While Lisa was still studying the map, she sensed a change in the movement of the crowd around her and instantly went on the alert. A bipedal feline digimon had just passed close behind her and what had alerted her was that he _hadn't_ reacted to her presence the way all the others had. He was just _too_ nonchalant.

She didn't know the digimon's type and automatically reached for her digivice. It was gone.

"Catch him," Lisa snapped, pointing at the black-and-white feline that was slowly strolling away through the crowd. Fangmon, who had been leaning over the edge of the bridge with his forepaws on the railing, didn't bother pushing through the mass of digimon but leaped up in a long arc to land right behind his target. He snapped up the digimon by the waistband of his loose green pants , hauled him into the air, and turned to carry him back to Lisa. The digimon's big yellow eyes went even wider and he began to struggle.

His blue-tipped ears drooped as Lisa drew her long knife and held the point just below his chin. She held out her other hand, impatiently.

"S-sorry," the cat said in a surprisingly sweet voice as he produced Lisa's digivice and handed it over to her, "I was going to give it back- I was just curious- I've never seen a digivice work before and I thought- maybe-"

Lisa sheathed her knife. "You're slick, I'll give you that," she said. "Not many people would be able to pick-pocket me without me noticing it." The digimon grinned sheepishly. _His face looks a lot like a Gatomon's,_ Lisa thought as she raised her digivice. "Curious, huh? Well, you would have been disappointed, it only works for me. You want to see it action?"

"S-sure," he said in an uncertain voice. He didn't quite like the expression on the human's face.

Lisa pointed her digivice at him where he dangled from Fangmon's jaws. The info disc sprang to life and, despite his precarious position, the feline digimon craned his neck to get a better look.

"Nekomon, huh?" Lisa said as she turned the device slightly so he could see it more clearly. "There's your level, Rookie, and your energy level and your special attacks, Sonic Fist and-" she frowned. The line, **"Unknown additional attributes and abilities." **had come up again. "So, what other abilities _do_ you have?" Lisa asked.

"Uhm- I can _sing_," Nekomon said. "I do a performance every evening- do you want to hear a song? I could-"

"No thanks," Lisa said, giving her partner a significant and meaningful look. "Just remember that we humans aren't as weak or stupid as we look. Fangmon- let him go."

"Thank you-" Nekomon began but quickly realized that the Nightmare Soldier wasn't going to just drop him. With a whipping motion of his long neck, Fangmon flipped Nekomon up and over the railing of the bridge. There was a second or so of surprised and outraged squalling before the feline digimon hit the water with a loud splash.

"Most cats can swim, right?" Lisa asked her partner.

"Mn," he replied affirmatively, "but not many of them _like_ it."

A few of the thickened crowd that had gathered to watch the confrontation peered over the railing. "A boatmon pulled him out," one of them said.

"Good," Lisa said. "Well, now that I've got your attention, has anyone seen another human in the city? Possibly accompanied by a Renamon?"

All of them shook their heads- or in some cases, eyestalks.

She and Fangmon continued on their way and found the steep little lane that led down to the embankment. When they reached the bottom, they surveyed the area. A large wagon, actually parked underneath on of the bridge's arches, was where the show was to be preformed. Its sides had folded out and down to make the stage and several digimon were setting up various bits of scenery.

Lisa read the notice board set up at the edge of the grassy area where the audience was beginning to assemble:

**+++ THE GREAT WAR +++**

The TRUE and EXCITING account

of the _EPIC BATTLE_ for the

EXISTANCE and FREEDOM

of the _Digital Dimension_ and

ALL DIGIMON!

Preformed daily at 1 and 5 of the clock

by the Cloudland Puppet Theatre

_Puppets-,_ Lisa thought in amazement, _well, it's no stranger that a lot of stuff I've seen here. It may be a little rinky-dink show but I'm sure that if Greg hears about it, he won't be able to resist coming to see it._

She chose a spot high on the bank where she could get a good view of the audience rather than the show itself. It was sheltered from view on three sides by a flowering hedge that meandered beneath the first row of buildings above. Fangmon curled up and settled his head on his forepaws and Lisa sat with her back resting against his shoulder. They watched individuals and groups trickle in- none of them human.

The show started and Lisa, despite herself, soon became completely engrossed in it. The puppets were beautifully designed and each character had several different sizes so that the puppeteers could simulate close-ups as well as medium and distance views. There were even tiny ones that could recreate a whole battle scene on the complex and ever-changing scenery the turned and folded out of hidden areas on the stage.

The atomic blasts were simulated with a combination of lights, smoke, confetti, and a burst of air from somewhere that, despite their small size and obvious mechanism, had the crowd gasping in awe and horror at the fate of the tiny city and its inhabitants that disintegrated on stage.

The story was entirely garbled, of course. Lisa had watched several scenes before she realized that the bat-winged character that looked a lot like a Lady Devimon was supposed to be Gwen. And, as far as she knew, Greg had never defeated a tank regiment with a flaming sword. But the show was hugely enjoyable anyway. Lisa found herself clapping and cheering with the rest of the audience and during an absolutely hilarious scene involving Greg, General Greenwaldt, and a large vat of tar, she felt Fangmon's shoulder shaking against her back and realized that her usually stoic partner was actually laughing out loud.

Lisa was a bit embarrassed to recognize herself on stage. Fangmon they got pretty much right, but the puppet that was supposed to represent her had extremely long blond hair, the hips of a fertility goddess, and a truly startling pair of breasts. But she was mollified a bit by the fact that the puppet kicked some serious ass- more than she had in reality, actually. Of course, the Greg puppet was a head taller than all the other humans and was muscled like a Leomon on steroids- artistic license, Lisa supposed. Heroes should _look_ like heroes.

The last scene was Greg giving a short speech about how he was going to remake the Digital Dimension as a paradise for all digimon to enjoy and thrive in. Gwen assumed that the end of the speech would be the end of the play. Even with the cunning minds behind the wonderful scenes she'd seen, there was no way they'd be able to depict something like that with mere props made of paper and wood.

But they surprised her again. The puppet Greg spread his arms wide and the Digital Dimension began to appear. Countryside spread out before her eyes- trees and mountains and rivers and towns and tiny digimon flowed down from the stage, expanding and growing right up to the edge of the audience. For a long, breathless moment, it was sheer, inexplicable magic. Then Lisa realized the whole thing was a huge sheet of paper, intricately painted and cut like a pop-up book, so that hills and forests and villages rose as it unfolded and fell from where it had been attached to the front of the stage. It must have taken thousands of hours to create. The effect was wonderful and amazing.

The audience, including Lisa the Blade and her Nightmare Soldier partner, went wild. The cheers and applause went on long after the puppeteers and stage crew had come out, taken their bows, and departed.

Lisa and Fangmon stayed where they were, watching the departing audience and talking about the show. They decided they would come back for every performance until the end of the festival, hoping to see Greg show up at one of them.

"It won't be a hardship," Lisa said, smiling. "That show was amazing! I never knew that stuff like that was possible. They didn't use any special abilities or anything a human couldn't have done but it really _was_ like magic."

"I liked it,"Fangmon nodded thoughtfully. "But your puppet was- well-"

"A ridiculous amazon caricature?" Lisa grinned. "Ah, I don't mind. The thought of trying to do competent weapon-work around enormous boobs like that is going to keep me chuckling for _days!_ Besides, if the puppet actually looked like me, then we might be recognized and we're drawing enough attention as it is."

There was the sound of a sharply taken breath of surprise from behind them and both leaped to their feet, spinning into fighting crouches. There, leaning over the hedge with a large wooden bucket in his arms was the still slightly damp Nekomon.

"What are you doing there, cat?" Lisa snarled.

"Oh- uh- I was-" he grinned a sickly grin and slopped some of the water in the bucket on the top of the hedge. "-just watering the garden?"

"Out for a little revenge, were you?" Lisa let her snarl drop into a smile. "You certainly are a soft-footed one."

Nekomon tossed the bucket aside. "I'm sorry. I'm really, _really_ sorry! If I had known who you were, I _never_ would have-"

"Sssh!" Lisa shushed him. "I don't want that to get around."

The digimon kept staring at her and muttering to himself. "If you don't look anything like that puppet of you then maybe Greg isn't like-"

Lisa laughed. "Of course he isn't! Oh, he's tall and has a great physique but he isn't the Incredible Hulk!"

Nekomon got the gist of her meaning even if he didn't understand the reference. His eyes got even wider. "Then- maybe I've actually _seen_ him?"

Suddenly, Nekomon was the focus of Lisa and Fangmon's intense attention. "What do you mean by that?" Lisa demanded.

"T-the tamers I saw at the Royal Inn," Nekomon said, "one of them had a Renamon partner and-"

"When?_ When_ was this?"

"Last night!" Nekomon nearly shouted, catching Lisa excitement like it was contagious. "Was it really Gr-ugh!" His voice cut of as Lisa twisted a hand in his snowy-white chest fur and dragged him bodily over the hedge.

"SSSSHHH!" she hissed urgently, "I don't want to attract attention. This inn- just take me there!"

"Okay, okay!" Nekomon said, "Just-" And he motioned to where Lisa's fist was still painfully gripping his chest fur.

"Oh, yeah- sorry," she apologized as she released him.

Nekomon smoothed down his chest fur fussily. "They might not be there now. I was singing in the common room after dinner when I saw them and they may have just been there for drinks and the entertainment."

"I don't care," Lisa said, "it's a place to start."

They circled around the center of the city to the neighborhood of the trailmon station. Between it and a long area of parks and gardens was a large rambling inn of several stories. As they entered, a doorman greeted them and then added, "The rest of your party is already in the Sakura Room, ma'am."

Lisa started in surprise but decided to play it cool. The doorman could clearly see she was a tamer and if he mistakenly assumed she was with another group of tamers- "And which way is the Sakura Room?"

"Down that hall toward the rear of the building, ma'am."

As they were approaching the meeting room, the door opened and Greg and Renamon stepped out.

"_Greg!_" Lisa shouted joyfully and flung herself at him.

He caught her in a tight hug and swung her off her feet crying, "_Lisa!_ Oh ghod, it's good to see you!"

They embraced for such a long time that Renamon cleared her throat and said, "If that hug goes on much longer, I might have to get jealous." Lisa turned to Renamon, stuck out her tongue, and then turned back to Greg and planted a very firm kiss square on his lips.

"Oh dear," Renamon said in a deadpan voice, "now I'm going to have to kill you."

"I'll tell you what," Lisa replied in a cheerful, unconcerned tone, "I'll let you give Fangy a good snogging in exchange."

Renamon and Fangmon eyed each other briefly and then both shook their heads in mock disgust.

Lisa introduced Nekomon after disentangling herself and Greg shook his hand as the digimon stared, awestruck. "You sang here last night, right? Great voice- but I should have guessed it from the designs on your hand guards." He gestured to the markings that looked like musical notes.

"You- you're really Greg? _The_ Greg?"

"Yup. Disappointing, huh? I don't even breathe fire or anything."

"No! I mean- you- I-"

"I'm just another human, really," Greg told him. "Look- you're singing in the Common Room again tonight, aren't you?" Nekomon nodded. "Well, let's get together afterward, okay? In the mean time, I'm going to catch up with my old friends. And- I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention who we are to anyone, okay?"

"Of course not!"

They watched him walk away down the hallway.

"Do you trust him?" Greg asked Lisa.

"We met when he tried to steal my digivice," she replied, "but he seems nice enough."

Greg nodded. "Renamon, keep an eye on him."

Renamon stepped sideways into shadow and vanished.

Greg turned to Lisa and said, "Walk with me, okay? I was just going to order lunch for the rest of the team."

"Team?"

"Yeah, three other tamers and their partners. You know one of them, in fact. Brian from the dojo in California?"

"Little Brian and his Phascomon partner?"

"Yep, only Brian isn't very little any more and his partner has stabilized at Champion level."

Lisa thought for a moment. "Damn, I can't remember the name- it's the one that looks like a Hellraiser version of a Care Bear, isn't it? Red Data, hard to control?"

"Yeah- Porcupamon. But Brian does a great job with him."

Lisa snapped her fingers, "Right! Damn, I should have remembered. There's so many new types cropping up lately- I saw another one besides Nekomon just today."

"Ah," Greg said, "that's actually part of the reason I'm here. I've been investigating why and how these unique types get created. At first I thought they were mutations- copying errors in digital data just like with DNA- but that turns out to be wrong."

They reached the front desk and Greg ordered a large meal to be sent to the meeting room. As they walked back to the room Greg continued, "It turns out that the Digital Dimension responds to the thoughts of its inhabitants. If enough people start thinking about something new, it eventually appears. Those new types you've seen have come mostly from fiction or artwork that's caught the imagination of enough people."

"Uh-" Lisa said slowly, "that's- well- that could be pretty damn dangerous, couldn't it?"

Greg chuckled. "They call you 'the Blade' because you're so sharp, right? Yeah, you're absolutely right. Types like Nekomon don't pose any threat but some people can get pretty twisted with their imaginings and when enough get together in one place-"

He didn't need to elaborate- Lisa could imagine the consequences quite easily. "Has it happened yet?"

"Twice that I know of," Greg said. "The first time, Renamon and I were able to handle it but the second time- we damn near got deleted. I had to go get some help to take care of the situation." They reached the door of the Sakura Room but Greg paused. "That's what this is all about. It's going to happen again and again. There's no preventing it. We just have to be able to clean up when it does. So I'm putting together a group- the best of the best- tamers and partners who not only are powerful but dedicated to preserving the peace and stability of the Digital Dimension."

Lisa smiled. "Royal Knights?"

Greg smiled back. "Something like that. Have you figured out how to Armor Biomerge yet? No? Ghod, it's an absolutely _incredible_ experience! I'll have to show you how to do it- uh- assuming you want to join us?"

"Just try and stop me!" Lisa said with immense conviction.

"Great," Greg said and gave her another quick hug. "You know, I've got people spread out everywhere looking for you. I guess it's pure luck that I ran into you here."

"Not really," Lisa said, "When I heard about the festival I thought it would be the sort of place that would interest you."

"Well, you were night about that! Did you know that there's a puppet show about us that-"

"Yes! I just saw it this afternoon. Pretty cool, isn't it?"

Greg laughed. "Yeah, it's really amazing but about as accurate as most 'based on a true story' entertainments. Did you-"

Lisa's face suddenly fell. "Oh my god-" she said quietly.

"What?"

"That show's pretty popular, isn't it? And if the Digital Dimension creates things that catch the imagination of enough people-"

"Yeah?"

"Pretty soon there will be _Lisamon_ walking around with boobs out to _here!_"

Their laughter was so loud and so prolonged that the rest of the tamers came out of the room to see what was going on.

-(o)-(o)-(o)-

**Author's Notes:**

**Nekomon is the creation of VulpineSnow and is used with permission.**

**The great Harvest Festival is real. Okay, so the _details_ are a bit different, but the essentials are quite similar to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival- in fact, I didn't even _begin_ to convey what a glorious, amazing madhouse that event really is. **


End file.
